Data signals communicated over a communication channel or network are often encapsulated hierarchically in frame structures. In addition to carrying data, frames typically carry extra information to handle tasks such as multiplexing multiple sources, synchronization, error correction, and rate adjustment. ITU-T Recommendation G.709/Y.1331, entitled “Interfaces for the Optical Transport Network (OTN),” February, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes means of communicating data over an optical network. The recommendation provides specifications for data signal structures and encapsulation schemes thereof.